Travel reviews by DD & PK from New York
Review Distribution
Total number of trips
1
Countries visited
1
Lodges stayed in
7
Excursions taken
1
My Jul 2023 trip
Namibia between 1 Jul 2023 and 17 Jul 2023
"We had an absolutely wonderful trip! We left almost all the details to Expert Africa, and they delivered! (I usually plan all our trips myself and am admittedly very Type A, so this is high praise.) The lodges we stayed at were uniformly wonderful in terms of comfort, service, food and activities. We particularly appreciated the outstanding food at our lodges after eating at a well-rated but frankly terrible hotel restaurant in a small city while waiting for a spare tire. Expert Africa also knew which lodges we should only pay for half-board at and which lodge to pay full board at: their recommendations were exactly right. And their recommendation to stay at a premier waterhole chalet at Okaukuejo in Etosha was spot on. We also appreciated their advice to stop at the Cape Cross seal colony, which was a highlight of our trip for us and our teenagers. The one thing we would have done differently was our full-day Sandwich Harbor tour while in Swakopmund--which was nice but too much driving to see more dunes--but otherwise we would not change anything!"
Arranged By Maruska AdyeRowe
Kalahari Red Dunes Lodge
"Kalahari Red Dunes Lodge review"
1 night
Arrived
3 Jul 2023
"We had a nice stay here; the heat in the tents was much appreciated! And the food was excellent. My husband's kudu steak was the best he had on the trip, and the kitchen was kind enough to make a delicious vegetarian meal for me and my daughters on relatively short notice. (We are not vegetarian, but did not want red meat again at that meal.) The game drive and sundowner were nice, as well."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Good
Sightings report
Giraffe
Many sightings
Meerkat
1 sighting
Oryx
10+ sightings
Wildebeest
10+ sightings
Zebra
6 sightings
Kulala Desert Lodge
"Kulala Desert Lodge review"
2 nights
Arrived
4 Jul 2023
"We loved Kulala Desert Lodge! The guided trips--including to the dunes and Dead Vlei and the sundowner drive--were fabulous. Our wonderful guide took my husband and me on a moonlight walk down to the riverbed after dinner both nights, which was spectacular, and did some stargazing earlier in the evening with us and our teenagers. The food was delicious, too, and we all (particularly our picky teenagers) appreciated the buffet-style food with many options. I can't rave enough about Kulala! My older daughter also loved the rooftop bed! The only downside was the lack of heat in the chalets during the cold winter nights."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Sightings report
Oryx
10+ sightings
Cornerstone Guesthouse
"Cornerstone Guesthouse review"
2 nights
Arrived
6 Jul 2023
"It's a nice enough place to lay your head--walking distance from restaurants in Swakopmund and with a fabulous breakfast."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Service
Good
Facilities
Good
Coast and Sandwich Harbour
"Coast and Sandwich Harbour review"
7 Jul 2023 • All-day excursion
Our guide was wonderful, and we enjoyed the day trip, but in retrospect, it was a lot of driving to get to and from Sandwich Harbor only to see more dunes after Sossusvlei. If I had to do it again, I would have instead booked a half-day boat trip and taken our teenagers to go sandboarding in the afternoon.
Doro Nawas
"Doro Nawas review"
2 nights
Arrived
8 Jul 2023
"We loved Doro !Nawas! The staff was incredibly friendly, the food was delicious (we loved the buffet with many choices, all of which were excellent), and the desert-adapted elephant game drive was a highlight! We also really enjoyed the staff's a capella singing in the evenings after dinner. The only thing we wished we had had was heat in the chalets during the cold winter nights."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Sightings report
Elephant
10+ sightings
Okaukuejo Camp
"Okaukuejo Camp review"
2 nights
Arrived
10 Jul 2023
"We stayed at a premier waterfront chalet, and it was absolutely worth it! Among many other animals, we saw a baby rhino and a baby elephant with their respective mothers at the waterhole from our balcony in the evening. The best part of staying at the park was the park's ealy morning and night game drives, which cannot be done from outside Etosha Park, given the gate opening and closing times. We saw two lions from very close and a honey badger on the early morning game drive and a spotted hyena and caracal on our night drive. The food at the park restaurant was fine--not great but not terrible. But that's not the reason to stay at Okaukuejo in the park."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Average
Facilities
Good
Service
Good
Activities
Excellent
Sightings report
Black Rhino
10+ sightings
Cheetah
2 sightings
Elephant
10+ sightings
Giraffe
10+ sightings
Leopard
1 sighting
Lion
3 sightings
Oryx
10+ sightings
Spotted Hyena
1 sighting
Wildebeest
10+ sightings
Zebra
10+ sightings
Mushara Bush Camp
"Mushara Bush Camp review"
2 nights
Arrived
12 Jul 2023
"Mushara was conveniently located to Etosha's eastern gate and very nice. The food was also very good. We had one unfortunate incident: the hot water bottle the staff out in my husband's bed during turndown leaked. When we called the staff, they wanted to move us--at 10:30 pm, after I was already in pajamas--to an empty room with smaller beds. We declined, and my husband ultimately persuaded the staff to turn the mattress over and remake the bed. Ideally, water bottles should be checked regularly for tears and leaks. And, of course, there was no heat in the rooms during the cold winter nights, so the water bottle was critical. Overall, though, we enjoyed our stay at Mushara."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Service
Good
Facilities
Good
Sightings report
Cheetah
1 sighting
Eland
1 sighting
Elephant
10+ sightings
Giraffe
10+ sightings
Oryx
10+ sightings
Spotted Hyena
1 sighting
Wildebeest
10+ sightings
Zebra
10+ sightings
Okonjima Plains Camp
"Okonjima Plains Camp review"
2 nights
Arrived
14 Jul 2023
"We loved Okonjima! The leopard tracking and pangolin tracking tours were amazing! We were incredibly lucky to see a leopard kill a guinea fowl (our guide said he had seen a leopard kill only three times before in his 15 years there); carry it back to her cub; and cry out to her cub to find it. We saw the cub cry out later and eventually saw mother and cub reunited and then chased away by a brown hyena. We loved watching the pangolin, as well, and learned a lot about the animals from the researcher on our trip. The rooms were also excellent and, although not heated, it was nice to have a non-drafty building rather than a tent for a change. We also loved the hiking trails--we hiked two of them in one day after days of sitting in our car and driving through Etosha."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Sightings report
Brown Hyena
2 sightings
Giraffe
10+ sightings
Leopard
1 sighting
Oryx
10+ sightings
Pangolin
1 sighting
Zebra
10+ sightings